Library

The Ink Spill New Yorker Cartoonists Library

When I began Ink Spill back in 2008 one of the sections planned for the future was a library of collections by New Yorker cartoonists. Work is now underway to build the library, with the first scans appearing below. The online Ink Spill Library draws on our collection but is not a catalog of our collection. It’s an attempt to assemble a visual library of what has been published by the magazine’s artists (including some of the books they illustrated). Scans of books will continue to be added over time to the library as a whole and for each cartoonist (for example: at the moment just one book by Glen Baxter and one by Ludwig Bemelmans appears. More will eventually be added).

A further note: in a case where a cartoonist did not have a collection of their work, we’ve included a book or books they illustrated. Roberta Macdonald is an example. We’ve also added illustrated books by cartoonists who do have collections of their own work (Steinberg, for instance), but the library is by no means trying to be inclusive of all illustrated books. My thanks to Tom Bloom, Chris Wheeler and Warren Bernard for some of the rarer cover scans. I am particularly indebted to Gretchen Maslin, who is archiving these materials and building the library. She comes to Ink Spill having worked in Special Collections at the Vassar College Library as well as The New Yorker‘s library.

Suggestions for additions always welcome. Please contact me using the “contact” link icon to the right.

Peter Arno

Peter Arno. Whoops Dearie! New York: Simon & Schuster, 1927. The book based on Arno’s popular New Yorker characters known as the Whoops Sisters. Ghostwritten by one of the earliest New Yorker employees, Philip Wylie, who went on to a good degree of fame as an author.

Shelby Little. The Linebook. Chicago Tribune, 1927. A collection of pieces from Richard Henry Little’s column that appeared in The Chicago Tribune. Arno contributed the cover.

H. McCarty-Lee and Peter Arno. France on Ten Words a Day: Perfect but Telegraphic French for the Ten-day Visitor Who Wants the Expressions, Gestures and Customs of the Ten-year Resident. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1928. About a dozen illustrations (and the cover) by Arno.

Charles Green Shaw. Illustrations by Peter Arno. The Low-down. New York: Henry Holt and, 1928. A wonderful book of short profiles by Mr. Shaw, a New Yorker and Vanity Fair contributor. Each profile is accompanied by an Arno portrait of the subject. Profiled are Gene Tunney, Ralph Barton, Lillian Gish, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Adele Astaire, among others. Arno’s portrait of Anita Loos is on the cover.

Margaret Livingston Whiteman and Isabel Leighton. Whiteman’s Burden. New York: Viking, 1933. Paul Whiteman, known as “The King of Jazz” was a hugely popular orchestra leader in the early to mid 20th century. As a young man, Arno (who played piano, guitar and banjo) came to idolize Whiteman’s banjo player, Mike Pingatore. Whiteman will forever be remembered for introducing Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” to the world (with Gershwin at the piano) in New York City, February 12, 1924. Margaret Livingston was a silent screen star and later, a star in nearly two dozen “talkies.” A dozen illustrations by Arno, and the cover.

Diana Ashley. Where to Dine in ’39: With 200 Recipes by Famous Chefs. New York: Crown, 1939. Cover by Arno. No illustrations within.

Crosby Gaige. Food at the Fair: A Gastronomic Tour of the World, New York World’s Fair, 1939. New York: Exposition Publications, 1939. Cover by Arno. Numerous illustrations within, but only two by Arno.

Fred Schwed Jr. Where Are the Customers’ Yachts?: Or A Good Hard Look at Wall Street. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940.

Liza Donnelly and Michael Maslin

Liza Donnelly and Michael Maslin. Call Me When You Reach Nirvana: New Age Cartoons. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1995.

Liza Donnelly and Michael Maslin. Cartoon Marriage: Adventures in Love and Matrimony by The New Yorker’s Cartooning Couple. New York: Random House, 2009.

Alan Dunn

Alan Dunn. Rejections. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1931.

Alan Dunn. Who’s Paying for This Cab? A Book of Cartoons from the New Yorker. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1945.

Alan Dunn. The Last Lath: An Architectural Record Book. New York: F.W. Dodge Corporation, 1947.

Alan Dunn. East of Fifth: The Story of an Apartment House. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1948.

Alan Dunn. Should It Gurgle? A Cartoon Portfolio 1946-1956. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1956.

Alan Dunn. A Portfolio of Social Cartoons by Alan Dunn 1957-1968. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968.

Bob Eckstein

Bob Eckstein. The Sea Below Us: The Missing Journal of Macky M. Blurb Inc., 2012. This is a privately printed lavishly illustrated softcover book by the author of The History of the Snowman (Simon & Schuster, 2007). The Snowman book contains a number of cartoons, including a chapter “The Best Snowman Cartoons”.

Edward Koren. Art Journal 43.4 (1983). “The Issue of Caricature” includes an interview by Judith Wechsler, “Speaking of the Desperate Things: A Conversation with Edward Koren” (Also in the issue, a four page piece on Steinberg, “The Wit of Saul Steinberg” by E.H. Gombrich)

Claudia J. Nahson and William Steig. Contributions by Robert Cottingham, Edward Sorel, Jeanne Steig, and Maggie Steig. Foreword by Maurice Sendak. The Art of William Steig. New York: Jewish Museum and Yale University Press, 2007.

Julia Suits

Julia Suits. The Extraordinary Catalog of Peculiar Inventions: The Curious World of the DeMoulin Brothers and Their Fraternal Lodge Prank Machines-from Human Centipedes and Revolving Goats to Electric Carpets and Smoking Camels. New York: Penguin Group, 2011. Not a cartoon collection, but a book by the cartoonist.